An Inward Focus of Attention During Information Security Decision Making: Electrophysiological Evidence

West, Robert; Cowger, Kate

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-88900-5_12

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The studies were conducted using the same equipment and processing pipeline, so this seems unlikely to be driving the difference, while the materials did differ across studies. A second study using the Josh and Control items from the current task also revealed slow wave activity over the right central region for ethical than control items ( West and Cowger, 2021 ). Given this, there may be some value in comparing the two sets of materials in the same individuals in an effort to distinguish robust findings from idiosyncratic characteristics of a dataset or set of materials.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…The effects of Benefactor and Delay of Reward on the ERPs were examined in a set of 2 or 3 factor ANOVAs comparing the ERPs for Control, Josh or Other benefit items, or Control, Short or Long delay items, while collapsing across the other independent variable. Hemisphere was included as a factor in analyses when lateralized ERPs were expected based upon previous research, and electrodes and measurement epochs included in the analyses were based upon previous research with the ISP ( Hu et al, 2015 ; West et al, 2019 ; West and Cowger, 2021 ). Region was included in one of the exploratory analyses based upon the pattern observed in the ERP data.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies using ERPs with the ISP reveal that decision-making in the task is associated with modulations of the physiology that differentiate ethical violation items from control items between 200 and 2,000 ms after onset of the decision prompt ( Hu et al, 2015 ; West et al, 2019 ; West and Cowger, 2021 ). The earliest effect of an ethical violation on the ERPs reflects a reduction in the amplitude of the posterior N2 component that may result from an inward focus of attention for violation items that limits visual processing of the prompt ( West and Cowger, 2021 ). Between 400 and 2,000 ms the ERPs differentiate ethical items from control items over the lateral frontal, medial central, and lateral central regions of the scalp ( Hu et al, 2015 ; West et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using event-related brain potentials to explore the temporal dynamics of decision-making related to information security

2022

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Insider threat from individuals operating within an organization presents a significant source of violations of information security. Our previous research has used scalp recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) and the Information Security Paradigm (ISP) to identify the neural correlates of decision-making processes related to violations of information security. In the current study, we sought to expand this research by examining the effects of two variables that were drawn from the broader decision-making literature (i.e., the benefactor and delay of a reward) on ERPs measured in the ISP. In the ISP we varied whether Josh—a hypothetical IT specialist—or a significant other was the benefactor of a violation, and whether the benefit of a violation was received after a short or long delay. The choice data revealed that individuals were less likely to endorse an unethical action than a control action. The electrophysiological data revealed ERPs that differentiated ethical scenarios from control scenarios between 200 and 2,000 ms after onset of the decision prompt, distributed over the occipital, central, and lateral frontal regions of the scalp. These ERPs were insensitive to the benefactor and delay of the reward. In contrast, there was slow wave activity over the frontal-polar region that was sensitive to both variables. The current findings provide evidence for separable neural systems that are either generally related to ethical decision-making in the ISP or are sensitive to the benefactor or delay of a reward resulting from an unethical decision.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%